TASK OF EMPIRE

Hokitika Guardian, 5 December 1940, Page 2

TASK OF EMPIRE

NEW ZEALAND AND THE WAR

The British Commonwealth must now 1 ace almost alone'.the aimed might of the great dictator countries whose sole purpose lor seveial ycais Iras been the preparation, lor hostilities. Towards this end they have considered no sacrifice of the individual, too great. To meet and. to -overcome ' this enormously power 1 ul . enemy and TO preserve" permanently our ideals and our freedom, our resources both J of men and material must he ti ans- , furred to the task of war. j These conclusions were reached by the Presidentof the Bank of New South Wales, Mr 11. W. Gillespie, in his address at the General Meeting of Proprietor’s. Mr Gillespie pointed out that statements of Ministers of the New Zealand Government indicate that those in authority realise the enormity of the task involved. PROBLEM' FOR NEW ZEALAND In some respects, the President continued, New Zealand is faced only with an intensification of a problem in existence before the war, when virtual full employment and rising levels of income led consumers to satisfy their demands partly by the excessive purchase of imported goods. Rigid import control therefore was

resorted to in order to reduce the j drain on London lumis, but insufficient j effort was made to curtail expenditure within the Dominion. To-day flic .rapidly expanding programme has aggravated these difficulties, and ut 'order to conserve oversea. balances and prevent inilatnm, both private and ordinary Government spending, must be greatly curtailed. In addition more rigid control of imports must he enforced. MEETING THE DIFFICULTIES A start -has already been made to meet those- ■ demands. Taxation lias i been increased considerably, and a ; Compulsory loan has been levied. 1 bis j places the immediate burden on the I higher and middle income levels. j To conserve her oversea balances, I New Zealand has utilized the ex- j perienee already gained in import li- j censing, and in addition has placed - restrictions on the consumption or - certain commodities. A shortage in j shipping and the inability of many - exporting countries to provide the : required materials, are further fac- | tors tending to reduce the oversea* j expenditure. At the same time, oversea funds are being built up by the increased sale of exports. Contracts have been concluded for a number of products, notably meat, dairy produce and

wool, and the Government is encoutaging. farmers to expand their prmluo- j tion as far as possible. The Urn,its j i,l 'New ■'ZealamJ’b exports are do- j In-mined by the availability of tlm j .shipping, mid the Dominion's produc-! five capacity. SACRIFICES INVOLVED New Zealand, Mr Gillespie said, is facing the huge change from p-sut to war conditions, but wiih tin - red. of the Empire, she must realise that the foe is powerful and highly prepared. To achieve vietoiy we . must accept heavy sacrifices. No longer is our aim economic progress, but, winning the war. This entails a lowering ol the standard of living for the duration of the